


life is short (so go on and live it)

by Fives (janfives90)



Category: The Prom - Sklar/Beguelin/Martin
Genre: F/F, Oneshot, just generally an au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:41:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26488840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/janfives90/pseuds/Fives
Summary: “You’re just too chicken to try it.”Emma sticks her tongue out at him, but pulls back and straightens out of her slouch when she notices Alyssa Greene playing near the ramp in the Klein’s front yard with Kaylee Klein and Shelby Gonzales.“Okay, fine,” Emma says. “I’ll do your stupid ramp.”
Relationships: Alyssa Greene/Emma Nolan
Comments: 3
Kudos: 68





	life is short (so go on and live it)

**EIGHT**

“This is the dumbest idea ever,” Emma Nolan mumbles, leaning against the handlebars of her bike as she looks down the hill at the rickety wooden ramp her cousin’s set up in the middle of the street.

Greg Nolan glares at her. “Is not!”

“Is too!”

“You’re just too chicken to try it.”

Emma sticks her tongue out at him, but pulls back and straightens out of her slouch when she notices Alyssa Greene playing near the ramp in the Klein’s front yard with Kaylee Klein and Shelby Gonzales.

“Okay, fine,” Emma says. “I’ll do your stupid ramp.”

Greg suddenly looks nervous, glancing down the hill. “Maybe I should, uh, go add another brick. To make it… radder.”

Emma rolls her eyes and ignores him, pushing off and pedaling down the asphalt.

The moment the front tire hits the wooden board, she realizes it was a bad decision.

She realizes it even more when her bike just breaks the flimsy ramp instead of going up it, and her bike jams to a stop against the pile of bricks Greg was using to support it.

She sees the road, then the sky, then she thinks she might’ve blacked out from embarrassment, then Greg is standing over her, his eyes wide.

“Is your brain still in your head?” he asks urgently.

“Did Alyssa see?” Emma asks, groggy.

Greg blinks. “Oh, man, it’s totally not. Gran’s gonna kill me.”

“What?” Emma groans and unclips her helmet with her right hand before sitting up, her body aching. She glances over and doesn’t see anybody in the Klein’s yard anymore, and she bites her lip. “Oh.”

She puts her left hand down to try to push herself up and yells as pain shoots through her, knocking the breath out of her and making her lie down again.

Greg flinches, panicked, and scrambles to his feet. “I-I’m gonna go get Gran.”

“Greg, don’t leave-”

He sprints away down the street, and Emma groans, setting her head back.

“Greg, where are you  _ going?” _ she hears before an exasperated noise.

Then, to make the day worse, Alyssa Greene appears in Emma’s line of vision. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Emma mumbles.

“Can you, like, move?”

“I think I broke my arm,” Emma says, gently wiggling her left wrist.

“Ow.” Alyssa looks around. “You’re in the middle of the street, though. Mom always tells me not to play in the street.”

“Guess she’s right.”

A faint smile forms on Alyssa’s face. “At least your mouth’s not broken.” She takes Emma’s right arm and carefully helps her sit up, then helps her move over to the curb.

Once Emma is out of the way, Alyssa grabs her bike and drags it over as well. “Kaylee’s mom and dad aren’t here, so she and Shelby went to go tell Shelby’s dad that you were hurt. It looked like you had gotten hurt real bad.”

Emma blushes and rubs the back of her neck. “Tougher than I look.”

“Uh-huh.” Alyssa scuffs the ground with her sneaker. “It was kinda cool, though.”

“Wiping out?”

“Trying it first.” Alyssa shrugs. “And since you didn’t break your neck, yeah, the flip was kinda cool, too.”

Emma grins. “Cool.”

Alyssa pauses, then presses a quick kiss to Emma’s shoulder.

Emma stares at her, brain blank.

“I dunno, maybe a kiss will help make it better.”

“Couldn’t hurt,” Emma rasps.

_ “Emma!” _

Emma pales as she turns her head and watches her grandmother run towards her, looking a strange mixture of worried and furious. “Can you kiss it again before she gets here?”

Alyssa’s laugh makes the whole thing worth it.

* * *

**SIXTEEN**

The tires of Emma’s truck screech as she turns off of the street and onto the dirt road that heads to the park. She glances over at Nick Boomer’s old Corvette, catching up beside her. She tries to cut him off as they turn to slow him down, but she forgets about the small pile of gravel coming up in front of her right at that exact moment.

Her truck skids out of control beneath her, going straight instead of following the curve, and sending her sliding into a ditch. The momentum continues to bring her forward, and the tail end of her truck spins behind her, slamming her around onto her side.

“Fuck,” Emma mutters, hanging awkwardly in her seatbelt, neck aching from whiplash.

She hears Nick’s voice yell,  _ “Scatter!” _ and his car zooming away, which doesn’t surprise her in the slightest.

What does surprise her is the sound of someone climbing onto her upturned truck, and Alyssa leaning in through her driver’s side window. “Jesus, Em. Are you okay?”

“Only thing bruised is my pride,” Emma groans. “And maybe my spine.”

Alyssa gives her a worried smile. “Why the hell did you agree to that anyway? You know your truck isn’t faster than Nick’s car.”

The words ‘because you were watching’ are on the tip of Emma’s tongue, but instead she says, “Seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“Well. Unfortunately, I’m going to have to call people for you and for your truck.”

“Can’t you just kiss us and make us better?” Emma freezes, wishing she could’ve been knocked unconscious instead of letting herself talk.

Alyssa laughs and shakes her head. “It didn’t work last time, Nolan, I don’t think it’s going to work now.”

“Damn.”

“But if you can move, I can probably at least help you get out of there?”

“That’d be nice.”

Alyssa reaches down, helping support Emma’s weight as she unbuckles her seatbelt and starts to pull herself out through the window. “Jesus, Emma, you have glass in your hair,” Alyssa murmurs, picking it out carefully and tossing it back down into the cab.

Emma sits down on the side of the truck. “Better than in my face, I guess.” She rubs at her temple. “Ow. My head hurts like hell.”

“You probably got yourself a concussion.” Alyssa studies her for a moment, then leans over and presses a soft kiss to Emma’s lips.

Emma almost falls off the truck. “Wh-What was that for?”

“Who knows, maybe it  _ will _ help make it better,” Alyssa murmurs. She smiles slightly, then starts to climb down.

“I think I’m feeling better already,” Emma whispers.

* * *

**TWENTY-FOUR**

“Emma. Why are you on the roof?”

“I can explain.”

Alyssa sighs and sets her backpack down before folding her arms across her chest and squinting up at her. “That’s never a good sign.”

Emma pouts. “I’m not doing anything wrong.”

“You’re on the  _ roof.” _

“Well, okay, but-” Emma tries to move her arm away from a rope she’s tying and frowns when the sleeve of her flannel gets caught in it. “Fuck.” She gives Alyssa a sheepish look. “Can you go back to school for like half an hour? I wasn’t ready for you yet.”

Alyssa snorts. “I’m pretty sure that if I leave for five minutes, you’ll break your neck.”

“Rude,” Emma mutters. She struggles with her sleeve, leaning out over the edge, pulling at the tangled mess.

“Em-”

“Got it-  _ Fuck!” _ As Emma yanks her arm back, she loses her balance, then slips on the gutter, sliding forward. She grabs the overhang above her, catching herself as her feet drop off the roof.

_ “Emma!” _ Alyssa yells, immediately running towards the ladder propped up against the roof a few feet away.

It somehow feels like seconds and hours, then Alyssa is on the roof, grabbing her by the back of her shirt as she carefully finds her footing back where it belongs.

They sit down, panting, Alyssa’s hand tight in Emma’s grip.

“Okay,” Emma breathes. “Maybe you should stick around.”

Alyssa shakes her head. “What are you even doing up here?”

“I got this banner and I was going to put it up and like reveal it on the roof and then slide down the ladder and the whole thing sounded really cool in my head and you always like when I do things that are cool, and-”

“I like when you keep breathing, too,” Alyssa interrupts dryly.

Emma can’t stop her smile. “Good to know. But like, I don’t know, I just wanted something  _ interesting _ and  _ special, _ but I guess it was kinda stupid.”

“Interesting and special for  _ what?” _

Emma is silent for a long moment, then pulls a box out of the pocket of her jeans and opens it, revealing a gold ring with six small inset diamonds.

Alyssa pushes herself up to lean on her hands, sitting straighter. “Emma,” she whispers.

“Marry me, Alyssa. I know I can be a handful, but I swear I’ll spend my whole life giving you everything you deserve and more.”

“Yes.”

Emma grins. “Yes?”

“Yes, you idiot. You didn’t need to nearly fall off of a roof to ask me. I would’ve said yes over a nice calm dinner.”

“I’ll keep that in mind for the next time I need to propose to you.”

“Good. You do that.” Alyssa lifts Emma’s hand to look at the ring, noticing a deep scratch on the side of Emma’s palm. “Em, honey, you’re bleeding.”

“You just said you’d marry me. I could be dying and I wouldn’t feel it.”

Alyssa laughs. “Come here.” She grips Emma’s flannel and kisses her softly. “Maybe that’ll make it okay.”

Emma’s eyes are soft as she takes the ring out of its box and carefully slides it onto Alyssa’s finger. “Never felt better.”


End file.
